Blogging is Big Business

How many blogs do you read over the course of the business day? There are many blogs on the Internet today. Businesses are adopting blogging as a way to keep in touch with their client base more frequently, they are using internal blogs to share information throughout a corporation, and many IT professionals use blogging as a tool to share their expertise where other small business IT professionals where we can turn for information.

The world has an abundance of information out there for us to share, learn and interact with. As the world goes global and flattens we all become more and more connected. Having a blog presence will become a normal activity from the smallest of businesses to the largest of corporation as people’s hunger for information on anything subject you want to know about grows.

How can you capitalize on blogging to grow your business?

People are hungry for information on everything from how to use Microsoft Word to do up sales brochures to the most technical information to troubleshoot a down server. Information is definitely the king and the company that can provide the right information on demand and hit the subjects that people are looking for, will ensure your firm is positioned to win in the market.

How can you use a blog to generate new business opportunities and keep your clients informed? Here are four great tips to attracting the right clients to your business using effective blog strategies:

Understand your market – Before you can begin to use a blog to attract new business opportunities you need to understand the marketplace that you are in. What specific challenges do businesses in your region have with technology? Does technology affect different market segments differently? What are you an expert at? How can your company help the business segment that you serve? All of these questions need to be addressed before you can start to blog about the challenges your company sees in your area and how you can help them.

Keep it simple – There are many great blogs out there on the Internet. Unless you are blogging to attract IT technicians or IT Managers to your company for technical reasons to help them troubleshoot an immediate challenge they maybe having, I would stay clear of making your blog technical focused if you are using this strategy as a marketing tool. When you are using a blog to attract new small business clients, you must ensure that it is kept very simple and to the point. Remember many people do not read in depth, they rather skim information. Make sure you use key phrases that someone in a small business may use to search out an IT service provider.

Call to action – Your blog must have a call to action, which is easy to find. There are some awesome blogs out there; however, it is often hard to find out who is the person we need to contact for additional information. Like any marketing campaign it is very important to have a clear calls to action associated with your blog and your postings must make the reader hungry for more information. Do not be afraid to put your email and telephone number on your blog.

Keep it fresh – Stale blogs do not attract readers. Active blogs are able to use search engine optimization tactics to attract new readers. It is important for you to determine a schedule and stick to it. If you are committed to adding new content weekly it is critical for you to pick a time to write. Many blog packages will also let you write a posting and then schedule a time to post it to your blog. Keep your information fresh, as accurate as possible and utilize keywords whenever possible.

A great blog can be a wonderful addition to your marketing activities. When you take the time to make your blog look professional, the content is fresh and accurate, you are using keywords to hit the people that are looking for the information that you can help them with and you have a clear mechanism for people to engage with you, a blog can drive new client leads to your business.